Chapter 737 - 739: Father and Son
Chapter 737: Chapter 739: Father and Son
"Dad~" Gu Benluo clung to Gu Wenheng’s arm, shaking it affectionately. "I was wrong last time, but there’s no way Mom didn’t ask about me. Did she and my little brother miss me?"
Seeing his eldest son start acting like a rascal again, Gu Wenheng slapped him on the back and scolded, "Stand up straight.
"I’m not your mother, and I don’t buy this act of yours. A perfectly fine young man—where did you learn this nonsense?"
Knowing that playing cute wouldn’t get him a pass today, Gu Benluo could only stand up straight and say, "Dad, just tell me first, is everything okay at home? I’ll write a letter back to Mom in a bit."
"Oh, after playing for so many days, you finally remembered you have a mother at home," Gu Wenheng said. Thinking of how much his wife cared for this brat in her letter, he couldn’t help but feel indignant on her behalf.
"Tell me, how long have you been out, and how many letters have you written home? Let me tell you, your mom doesn’t miss you at all. Go do whatever you need to do and stop loitering here."
Gu Benluo didn’t believe a word of his excuses, but since the letter was now tucked away by his dad, he wouldn’t be able to see it anytime soon. He could only smile ingratiatingly. "Dad, then when are we going back? After being out for so long, I miss home and Mom."
"Really?" Gu Wenheng looked at him with a face full of doubt.
Gu Benluo nodded seriously. "Really. Last night, I even dreamed that Mom made me something delicious."
"That’s easy to fix," Gu Wenheng said, patting his small shoulder. "I’ll have someone prepare a carriage and send you back first, saving you from yearning day and night here."
Gu Benluo hesitated. "...Dad, but I promised Mom that I would take good care of you when we left..."
Gu Wenheng said, "I wonder exactly how my eldest son has been taking care of me?
"Tell me about it so I can hear. When we get back, I’ll help claim credit for you."
Gu Benluo’s eyes darted away evasively. "I helped gather firewood and boil water... I also caught a fish and stewed fish soup for you... Oh, and we caught a rabbit that day! Dad, I roasted a rabbit leg for you to eat..."
Gu Wenheng nodded as he listened. "Anything else?"
Gu Benluo fell silent. He wondered if that wasn’t already enough.
"Dad, when we left, you told Mom to rest assured and that you’d take good care of me. But it seems like you haven’t taken care of me these past few days either..." Gu Benluo pouted. If they really calculated it this way, it seemed he was getting the short end of the stick.
Gu Wenheng said, "...You brat, your dad ensuring your Ping’an on this journey is already taking care of you enough.
"Stop being glib with me. What did you come to see me for at this hour?"
"Dad, I just wanted to see if Mom missed me."
"Your mom wants you to go back early. I’ll help pack your bags."
"Dad, you’re tricking me again. I don’t believe it. Why don’t you let me take a look at the letter?"
"That was written to me by my wife. What does it have to do with you?
"If you want to receive a letter from home, you’d better write one back first so she can reply to you."
Seeing the boy pestering him for so long, Gu Wenheng grew suspicious. "Tell me honestly, kid, what is actually going on? Why aren’t you sleeping at night, and what are you doing running over here?"
"N-nothing," Gu Benluo said, flashing a toothy smile at him. "I just missed you, Dad. You’ve been leaving early and returning late these days, and even though we followed behind, we couldn’t speak more than a few words with you.
"Dad, we’ve walked more than half the journey already. Is the upcoming road going to be even harder to travel?"
"So you actually have the free time to worry about this." Gu Wenheng stood up, preparing to go over and open the window for some fresh air, but Gu Benluo tugged at the corner of his clothes and refused to let go.
"Dad, you haven’t told me yet. Will the road ahead be difficult?" Gu Benluo braced himself against Gu Wenheng’s gaze and bit the bullet to continue.
"What comes next is all rugged mountain roads, but it won’t get to the point of abandoning the carriages and walking. Just put your mind at ease. If it really comes to that, you can ride a horse."
For someone so small, he certainly worried about a lot of things.
"First, let go of my clothes. Although I brought a lot of clothes this time, they can’t withstand you wrinkling them like this." Seeing his outer robe already crumpled, Gu Wenheng sighed.
"Now tell me, what’s this about not letting me open the window?"
Gu Benluo froze. "...Dad?"
"Don’t think you can hide it from me. You’ve been acting shifty ever since you came in, and your eyes have darted to this window several times. If you don’t speak up now, I’ll go straight over and open it."
Gu Benluo hung his head. "I knew I couldn’t hide this from you. If I had known, I wouldn’t have done something so unnecessary."
Gu Wenheng remained silent.
Pursing his lips, Gu Benluo confessed, "Dad, we really didn’t do anything bad. Right after we finished eating, we were preparing to go for a walk on the streets when we saw some constables driving away some beggars.
"I asked the shopkeeper, and apparently, they wouldn’t normally do this. It was all because of our arrival that they weren’t allowed inside the city.
"My brothers and I discussed buying some coarse grain steamed buns and wanted to deliver them to the city gates while it was still early.
"It’s just that your room directly faces the street. We were afraid you would see us, so we thought of having me come here to stall for time."
Gu Wenheng patted Gu Benluo’s head and sighed silently. It wasn’t as if he was oblivious to the petty tricks the subordinate officials were playing.
However, the main purpose of his trip this time was to ensure that more people had land to farm.
As long as there was a harvest, everyone’s lives would gradually stabilize, and the beggars on the streets would slowly decrease. He couldn’t intervene in everything alone; he could only rely on long-term plans to slowly improve the situation over time.
"The Silver you all brought out this time is pretty much used up, right?" Although Gu Wenheng was asking a question, he was already certain of the answer.
When they found Gu Letian, these brothers had already been generous with their wealth once. It was evident over these past few days, as they didn’t clamor to go out and improve their meals; they ate and lived exactly like the subordinates, no longer asking for special treatment.
"T-there’s still a tiny bit left." Gu Benluo made a small gesture with his fingers, looking deeply aggrieved. "Dad, I’m the poorest one among my brothers."
"I’m not exactly wealthy in our family either," Gu Wenheng replied. "How about you write a letter back and ask your mom for some?"
His words were completely justified. The salary he received wasn’t even enough to support the family, so he wasn’t lying to the boy.
Gu Benluo had no concept of money, but he understood a bit about the ways of the world. "But Dad, aren’t you a high-ranking official? Don’t all officials have Silver?"
Gu Wenheng lightly tapped his forehead. "You brat, you sure know enough about that.
"Today, Dad is going to assign you some homework. In your dad’s current official position, the monthly salary is two hundred and eighty-six taels of Silver. Does that sound like a lot?"
Gu Benluo nodded. "All my savings haven’t even reached the last digit of yours."
Gu Wenheng said, "Then here comes the problem: how many people are in our family, and how much monthly allowance do you all receive?
"How many maids and older servants are in the house? How much food is consumed daily? I won’t even ask you to calculate other social exchanges and gifts; just count these up and see if this Silver is enough to go around."